Torn
by Bubblicious Sweetart
Summary: The Annual PPTH ball is here, but a big problem may bring two people together.


Disclaimer: If I owned them, I wouldn't be writing this, now would I? I also do not own the song "Torn." Sadly, the only thing I own is the plot. NO stealy meh plotie!

A/N: If you'd like, check the links at the bottom of the story. That way you have a visual on what both Cuddy and Cameron are wearing. Be sure to review. They make me smile and they make the world go round.

"Damn it!" Cuddy's eyes were wide, and she whirled around to face it crippled doctor before her. "House! You insufferable moron! How could you do something so idiotic?" One would wonder what on earth the dean of medicine was doing screaming at her fellow doctor. Actually, that was normal. Rather, why was the dean of medicine wearing a floor length black dress and screaming at her fellow doctor. Well, the answer is simple. Tonight was a very special night.

House smirked at the female doctor, and drummed his fingers on the head of his cane. He was also dressed up. He wore a black suit, along with a tie. Foreman, Chase, and Wilson all wore the similar attire. The neurologist, intensivist, and oncologist shared amused expressions.

"What on earth do you mean?" House asked innocently.

Cuddy's eyes flashed maliciously. She pointed one sharp, red fingernail at him. "You mocked the band that was going to be playing tonight. And guess what? They quit! And they're asking for a refund!" she snarled.

Wilson approached Cuddy, restraining the grin that was begging to pass. "Lisa, it'll be alright…" He rested a hand on her shoulder. She pulled away.  
"Don't 'Lisa' me, James!" Her eyes softened slightly at the sight of him, but she shook away the emotions when the door of the diagnostics room opened and in walked another doctor.

She wasn't at all dressed up, but appeared slightly disheveled, her white coat slipping off her shoulders. All the doctors gazed upon Allison Cameron. She looked around, eyes wide with slight surprise. "What's going on?" she asked, cocking her head to the side curiously.

Cuddy turned on the young immunologist. "Why the hell do you look like that? Tonight's the annual ball!" the dean of medicine snarled viciously.

Cameron's eyes widened even more. "I'm not going… But why are you all here? Shouldn't you be downstairs?"  
"We have a dilemma," Chase said, smirking.

"House insulted the band so badly they quit," Wilson said, barely keeping a straight face. "Now there's no entertainment."  
"The night's ruined because House couldn't keep his sarcastic remarks to himself for one night!" Cuddy's eyes were filling with frustrated tears. "The dean at Jefferson is down there… How will it look if one of our doctors is the cause of our lack of enterainment?"  
Cameron winced at Cuddy's tears, and before she knew it, she was speaking. "I could entertain them." _'What am I saying!'_ "All I need is a guitar." She gazed down at herself, and felt the idea slip away.

Cuddy's tears dried, while all the males gazed at her with wide eyes. Allison Cameron? An _entertainer?_

"What are you going to do?" House said, speaking at last. "Strip and give some of the doctors a lap dance?"  
"No," Cameron said coolly. "I'm saving those for my boyfriend." Chase and Foreman gaped, stunned by Cameron's quick retort.  
"Allison, you need to change. I think we may have something for you to wear…" Cuddy said, gripping Cameron's upper arm and dragging her out of the diagnostic's room. But she shouted out to Wilson before she left.

"James! Get her a guitar. NOW!"

"Yes, ma'am," Wilson said, and dashed off, leaving Chase, Foreman, and House in his wake.

"Well, looks like it's just us guys," House said sarcastically.

"Actually, no." Foreman headed for the door. "I'm going with Sharon." He exited, with Chase in tow.  
The Australian gazed at House sheepishly. "I'm taking Brittany, the new nurse," he said with a slight grin before leaving as well.

"Fine!" House called after them. "I'll be the lone bachelor. Everyone loves them, ya know!"

As fortune has it, however, Wilson, Cuddy, Foreman, Chase, and House were all seated at the same table, very close to the stage. House eyed Chase's date. She was… pretty. Long blond hair, bright blue eyes. Bah. There were enough of them. And with Wilson and Cuddy going out… Plus Foreman and Sharon… Well, House was going to have to hire another hooker quite soon.

"So… what is our dear wittle Cameron going to do?" House asked Cuddy, whom smiled knowingly.

"You'll see in just a minute…" She rose and walked towards the podium where the band would have preformed, had they been there. Cuddy took hold of the microphone. "Good evening and thank you all for coming to the annual Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital Ball." There was a moment of applause. "Our entertainment for the evening has changed. Rather than the House of Blues, we will be listening to our very own, Dr. Allison Cameron. Please enjoy."

A lone seat stood on the stage, obviously for Cameron. But who came onto the stage most surely wasn't Cameron. It couldn't be.  
This girl's long, honey brown hair fell around her in soft curls, setting off her fair face. Her eyes seemed to jump out at you with their sheer blue-green color. Her dress was long, sweeping. Baby blue in color, it reflected her milky skin fabulously. The skirt fell around her in slight ruffled, barely sweeping the floor. The neck dropped to a very low V, revealing some cleavage. In this woman's hands, she carried a black acoustic guitar. As she approached Cuddy, she was given the microphone.

"Knock 'em, dead, Allison," Cuddy murmured as she left the girl on her own.

It _was_ Cameron.

"She looks fabulous," Chase said, and Brittany glared at him angrily. House did the same. How dare he look at his… What? What was she to him? He had turned her away, hadn't he?

'_Stop it, House!'_ he told himself. _'You're a loner. Forever.'_

As Cameron looked out into the crowd, she took in a sharp breath. "Good…good evening. Thank you for having me." She sat down in the chair, settling the guitar on her lap. "This is one of my favorite songs. 'Torn' by Natalie Imbruglia. It touches my heart, and I hope it does the same for you."  
She carefully began strumming the strings, and she hummed the first note to get it correctly.

As she opened her mouth, the hospital seemed to hold its breath. And then she sang.

"_I thought I saw a man brought to life  
He was warm, he came around like he was dignified  
He showed me what it was to cry  
Well you couldn't be that man I adored  
You don't seem to know, don't seem to care what your heart is for  
But I don't know him anymore  
There's nothing where he used to lie  
My conversation has run dry  
That's what's going on, nothings fine I'm torn"  
_

As she sang, Cameron's gaze lingered over House's table. Her voice was angelic, better than the real thing. Who would have guessed.

"_I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel  
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor  
Illusion never changed into something real  
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn  
You're a little late, I'm already torn"  
_

"_So I guess the fortune tellers right  
Should have seen just what was there and not some holy light  
To crawl beneath my veins and now  
I don't care, I have no luck, I don't miss it all that much  
There's just so many things that I cant touch, I'm torn"_

Tears seemed to well up in Cameron's eyes as she sang. Her hands struck all the perfect strings. She forced herself to avoid House's table. But she couldn't. She gazed at it.

"_I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel  
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor  
Illusion never changed into something real  
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn  
You're a little late, I'm already torn. Torn."  
_

"_There's nothing where he used to lie  
My inspiration has run dry  
That's what's going on, nothings right, I'm torn"_

The tears were flowing freely now. She couldn't avert her eyes from his. They were locked. She was singing to him. This was for him. She was pouring her emotions out to him.

"_I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel  
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor  
Illusion never changed into something real  
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn  
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel  
I'm cold and I'm ashamed bound and broken on the floor  
You're a little late, I'm already torn"_

As she finished, she tensed, her body rigid. Cuddy sensed the immunologist's fear. She swept over during the roar of applause.

"She's fabulous, isn't she?" Cuddy said, taking the microphone back. "I say we give her a break."  
Cameron took this to her advantage. She ran off the stage, eyes wet.  
"Damn it, Cameron!" House snarled, rising and dashing after her.

Outside the hospital it was snowing, and Cameron was seated on a bench, shivering and sobbing. How could she be such an idiot? She was over House. Over him, wasn't she? Obviously not.

'_He told me he doesn't like me. Get over it, Cameron. He'll never love you.'_ She shivered again, freezing as snow flecked her hair and settled onto her body. She then felt something drape over her bare shoulders, warming her. She glanced upwards to see none other than Gregory House.

"You'll freeze to death out here, you know," he said, looking around. "And I think the morgue is full so…"  
"What do you want?" she snapped, her eyes red and puffy.

"Hey!" House retorted. "No snarking. Only _I_ can snark. Besides…" He settled down beside her. "You sang pretty well… I mean, I would have preferred stripping but…"  
"Shut up, House," Cameron whispered, looking down again.

His eyes narrowed. "No." He lifted her chin with one finger. Even doing so she averted his gaze. "You have gorgeous eyes, Cameron."  
Her eyes snapped upwards. But they weren't filled with happiness or joy. No. Anger resonated through the young woman's eyes.

"How dare you?" she snarled, taking her head back and moving away from him. "How dare you flirt with me? Who the hell do you think you are, House? You don't get it, do you? I'm not just a toy that you can take off the shelf whenever you want and then throw back when you're done. I liked you, and you just shoved me off. I got drugged and you joked about it." Tears were welling again. "Do you think that just by saying I'm a good singer with make me fall for you again? All you see in me tonight is a one-night stand. All you see is a young woman in a pretty dress." Tears fell. "I sang that song for someone special, and they didn't even notice." Cameron rose to her feet, looking down at House. "Goodnight." But as she was about to walk away, a voice called after her.  
"Hold on." She turned around to see House standing, glaring her down from his tremendous height.

"What?" she snapped.

He didn't answer, but hooked the head of his cane around her ankle, and yanked.

Cameron released a yelp of surprise as she stumbled forward, but was caught by a pair of strong arms. She looked up to find House's electric blue eyes piercing through her.

"You don't understand either, Allison," he whispered, causing chills to run up and down her spine. He had said her name. "I think whoever you sung that song for understood just fine. And he told me to respond."

He placed his lips upon hers in a fiery way. She was stunned; yet fell into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck as his wrapped around her waist.

All the emotion that they had poured into the kiss. Anger, love, hate, passion, pain. It mixed into one pot, creating this.

House licked her lip with his tongue, and she opened. They danced, the heat of their bodies pressed together warming them both. They loved each other.

When at last they pulled away, they were both panting.  
"One more thing, Allison."  
"What…Greg?"  
"Merry Christmas."

A/N: There. Done. Here are the links.

Cameron's Dress: http/webzoom. dress: http/ 


End file.
